Interactive television services provide a television viewer with the ability to view television programs in ways that they could not be viewed using only a state of the art television. Such services typically require the purchase of a special digital video receiver as well as a subscription to the service itself. The service powers the digital video receiver and uses phone lines to provide information and software needed to deliver special interactive TV features. These features include the ability to manipulate TV programs by pausing, rewinding or instantly replaying a portion of the broadcast, without missing succeeding action. The digital video receiver may also be equipped with a memory to remember a viewer's favorite television show and automatically make a digital recording of the program each time it airs. The service may provide a digital recorder that stores up to 30 hours of TV programming.
Additionally, a state of the art interactive television service may allow viewers to receive Internet content and services while also viewing television. The service may also offer a device equipped with two tuners for simultaneously recording two television programs.
However, despite all of the benefits of state of the art interactive television services, the potential for broadcasting media content to viewers is not optimized. Existing devices dedicate a digital video receiver to view real-time broadcast programs and do not take advantage of time periods during which the receiver resources are unutilized to receive content that can be stored and viewed at a later time.